Child Psychology in Twelve Questions

Description

This book explores some of the enduring questions in developmental psychology. Paul Harris shows why these questions are important, proposes likely answers, and explains the uncertainties that persist.

• An engaging and authoritative account of what we know about a child's mind from a world-renowned expert in the field
• Explores the role that child psychology can play in our thinking about education, economic development, and values to live by
• Demonstrates the ways in which children's early experiences leave a profound mark on their mental life

About the Author(s)

Paul L. Harris, Victor S. Thomas Professor of Education, Harvard University

Paul L. Harris is a developmental psychologist with interests in the development of cognition, emotion, and imagination. After studying psychology at Sussex and Oxford, he taught at the University of Lancaster, the Free University of Amsterdam, and the London School of Economics. In 1980, he moved to Oxford where he became Professor of Developmental Psychology and Fellow of St John's College. In 2001, he migrated to Harvard University where he teaches developmental psychology in the Graduate School of Education. He is a fellow of the British Academy and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. His book Trusting What You're Told: How Children Learn from Others (Harvard University Press, 2012) won the Cognitive Development Society Book Award in 2013 and the Eleanor Maccoby Book Award from the American Psychological Association in 2014.

Table of Contents

1:Where does love come from? Attachment theory
2:How do children learn words? Universality and variation
3:Does language change how children think? The contested relation between language and thought
4:Do children live in a fantasy world? Pretending and the origins of the imagination
5:Are children natural psychologists? One or two early theories of mind
6:Can we trust children's memory? The vulnerable eyewitness
7:Do children understand emotion? Children's insight into their inner lives
8:How do children tell right from wrong? The origins of morality
9:Do children trust what they are told? The role of trust in cognitive development
10:Do children believe in magic? Magic and miracles
11:Is developmental psychology ethnocentric? Cross-cultural differences in ways of thinking
12:What have we learned? Children's minds

Reviews

"A fantastic read - authoritative and thought provoking, yet easily accessible. Paul Harris is one of the main figures in the field of developmental psychology, and his book has some wonderful details of the actual experiments involved." - Bruce Hood, University of Bristol

"Books on child development abound, ranging from academic textbooks to practical guides. Paul Harris's new book occupies a unique place in this landscape. Here is one of the leading researchers in developmental psychology sharing his expertise in a rigorous and scientific, yet still very reader friendly, manner. Students of all shapes and sizes are the beneficiaries. A wonderful book." - Michael Tomasello, Duke University